Harry Potter and the Secret of Life
by natusa26
Summary: My take on what happened during the 19 years following the Deathly Hallows. The Wizarding World is rebuilding itself, and Harry is trying to cope with living a normal life for once, but even he knows that he doesn't go looking for trouble, it finds him.
1. The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters that appear in this chapter, they belong to JK Rowling, though I wish I was smart enough to have come up with her idea.

Introduction: Hi, this is my first story in a long long time, and after rereading the other one, I realised how bad it was! But, that was 5 years ago, hopefully my writing has improved since then, and that story is under a different pen name, and I'm not going to tell you what it is, so you can't all laugh at me.

I am going to keep this fic as canon as possible, and it's basically my take on what happened in the 19 years between "The Flaw in the Plan," and the epilogue at the end of Deathly Hallows.

I am a university student, and I currently have several assignments I should be working on, so if it takes a while to update (providing you like the story of course) please don't hate me.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy! On with the story.

**Chapter One: The Aftermath**

How long Harry had been lying in his bed he did not know, he didn't care. As tired as he was, he found he just could not sleep. The events of the past few days were replaying in his head like a videotape that kept rewinding itself. The fact that the war against Voldermort was over had not yet quite sunk in for Harry. Although he had seen Voldermort die, he just expected him to come bursting through Gryffindor's dormitory door any second.

Harry shook his head and rolled over, he was being ridiculous. Voldermort was most defiantly dead. All the horcruxes had been destroyed, and Voldermort's body was currently lying in a room off the Great Hall. Harry sat up in his bed, and in the bed next to him, Ron snorted and rolled over at Harry's movement. Other than Ron's light snoring, the dormitory was silent, Dean was fast asleep in his own bed, but other than that it was empty. Both Neville and Seamus had been sent to the hospital wing to get themselves sorted out, neither had returned yet.

Reaching under his pillow, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak, and as he climbed out of his four poster bed, he pulled the cloak over himself. Although it had been revealed that his father's old cloak was really a Deathly Hallow, to Harry, the cloak still felt the same; a connection to his father, and an easy way to sneak around undetected, as he planned to do now.

Harry needed closure. He felt that he needed to see Voldermort's body one last time before he could truly rest and move on with his life. Since Voldermort's death a few hours before, Harry's scar had not even twinged in the slightest. He suspected that it probably never would again; he hoped it never would again. His connection to Voldermort had been severed due to the destruction of the seventh horcrux that has resided within Harry since his was one year old.

As Harry crept down the stairs and into the common room, all around he saw sleeping lumps. Many of the ex- Gryffindor pupils who had come back to fight had crashed wherever they could, exhausted from the fight, not even bothered by the fact that sunlight was streaming through the windows, as it was already early afternoon. Harry had to carefully step over a couple of the figures, whose only movement was the steady rise and falling of their chests as they breathed.

Harry exited Gryffindor Tower, and, as if on auto pilot, he started walking down to the Great Hall. All around him the damage caused by the previous night's battle was evident, rubble and clouds of rising dust glistening as the sunlight streamed through broken windows along the corridors.

Harry walked along unnoticed, only passing a few people along the way; the schools caretaker, Argus Filch, was sweeping up broken glass, aided by several ministry workers, and later on Harry walked past Hagrid who was passing large boulders of rubble out of a window to his younger brother Grawp. Harry wanted to stop and speak to Hagrid, but his feet prevented him from doing so, and he carried on walking until he arrived in the Great Hall, through the large gap where the doors had previously been, until they had been blasted away by Death Eaters.

Inside the Great Hall were a few people and Harry knew it would be difficult to get past them undetected to see Voldermort. At the opposite end of the hall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the recently announced Minister for Magic stood talking to Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts new Headmistress. Cautiously, Harry approached the pair. All around were other Hogwarts teachers and ministry workers repairing the structure or making notes on floating pieces of parchment about various things. The bodies of the dead had been moved from the hall, Harry did not know where.

"Professor?" Minerva McGonagall jumped slightly at the sound of the voice apparently coming from an empty space. "Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to startle you," Harry said as he removed the cloak from around himself.

"That's quite alright Potter, you just gave me a slight shock that is all," she replied.

"I was wondering if I could have a quick chat with you please Kingsley?" Harry said turning to face him.

"Of course," Kingsley replied in his deep, soothing voice, and led Harry out of the Great Hall, down the steps that lead up to the entrance hall and out into the grounds. "It's a beautiful day; we should make the most of it, "Kingsley said in response to the quizzical look that had appeared on Harry's face as he was lead outside.

"Yeah," murmured Harry to the ground.

"You don't think so?" Kingsley asked him.

"No, I do, it's just…" Harry's voice trailed off. He decided there was no point dragging out his question, and looking Kingsley straight in the eye, "I need to see Voldermort's body. I just have to. You're Minister for magic now, can you grant me this one favour please?"

Kingsley nodded thoughtfully, "I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed, but I want you to be certain that you want to do this?"

"If I don't, I will regret it for the rest of my life, I know I will. If I can't put Voldermort in my past, then I feel I will never be able to carry on with my life with out a constant worry that he will return and hurt more people that I love."

"I understand," Kingsley replied, and Harry was sure that he was thinking about everyone that they had lost during the war. "When would you like to do this?"

"Now," Harry replied instantly, "the sooner I can get this over with, the quicker I carry on with my life."

"He is lying in a chamber off the Great Hall, if you want to follow me, "and once again Harry was following Kingsley, back into the school and into the Great Hall, which still had various ministry workers roaming around. A few students who had stayed behind to fight had now appeared and were eating at the house tables.

Harry ignored them, not even registering who they were, as he followed Kingsley into the chamber at the back of the Great Hall. Kingsley turned to Harry and said, "I shall leave you. I will be outside, take as long as you need." Harry nodded in response and watched as Kingsley walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.

Harry turned round, and saw a dark figure lying on a table in the poorly lit chamber. As he walked towards the figure, he saw that the body had been covered in a black cloak. Harry's hand reached out to pull the cloak back, but he faltered. Did he really want to do this? "You must," the voice inside his head told him, "if you don't, you will never be able to carry on with your life, laugh with your friends, be with your loved ones." Harry nodded to himself and in one swift movement; he pulled the cloak that covered Voldermort's body.

Harry wasn't sure what he had expected, but whatever it was vanished in a moment. As Harry looked at Voldermort's lifeless body, with the skeletal face, flat nose and spider-like fingers, the truth dawned over Harry, as he sunk to the floor, sitting against the leg of the table that Voldermort lay on.

Tears came to Harry as they had never come before. As tears streamed down his cheeks he thought about his parents, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Fred, Colin, Dumbledore and for anyone else who had been a victim. Harry thought about Neville, who had lost both his parents, not physically, but mentally, to the entire Weasley family, such a close family, to Ron and Hermione, who had stood by him since he entered the wizarding world, to Ginny, her beauty and radiance, how much he loved her, and to Severus Snape. Harry wasn't sure if he was quite ready to accept that Snape had loved Harry's mother, the fact that Snape was able to accept the concept of love meant that Harry could start to accept what he had done.

Harry cried until he was no longer able to produce tears, and, after several deep breaths to try and compose himself, Harry stood up and once again looked at Voldermort's body and spoke, "the true "Master of Death" does not run away from death but instead embraces that he or she must eventually die. A greater man than you or me said this, a man who believed that my ability to love was what would defeat you one day, and you know what? He was right."

With a last look, Harry re-laid the cloak over the body, wiped a stray tear from his cheek, and walked out of the small, cold chamber into the brightness and warmth of the Great Hall.

After blinking a few times from the light, Harry saw Kingsley a few feet away talking to a ministry worker. Kingsley looked pointedly at Harry, who nodded and smiled before walking over towards the house tables where many of the people who had participated in the fight, now sat eating a well deserved meal.

Harry headed over to the Weasley family and Hermione who sat at one end of the Gryffindor table, with many calls of "We did it Harry!" And, "Thanks Harry!" along the way. Harry smiled and silently acknowledged each of these calls until he reached the Weasleys. "Can I join you?" He asked.

"Harry!" Cried Hermione, "where have you been? Ron said you weren't in your bed when he woke up, and we asked Kingsley, and he wouldn't tell us anything."

"Calm down Hermione! Let the man eat, I'm sure he has a good explanation," came Ron's reply.

"Um..." As Harry sat down next to Ron, he saw how distant and sad they all looked. It was obviously that Mrs Weasley had been crying for a long time, Mr Weasley had his arm around her. Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Percy had looked up from their conversation at Harry's arrival; Fleur was also showing signs of recent crying. Neither George nor Ginny had even shown any acknowledgement at Harry's arrival though. George was staring into space with a blank look on his face; Ginny however was staring at her plate, and with a look of sheer annoyance was muttering to her plate.

"I… Umm… I had a few things to sort out, sorry," and he fell silent, fully aware that, with the exception of George and Ginny, everyone was staring at him expectantly.

Nobody said anything for a few moments, except for Ginny who was still mumbling into her plate. Hermione, who was sitting next to Ginny, nudged her sharply with her elbow and Ginny looked up haughtily, and crossed her arms. To break the awkward silence, Mrs Weasley asked Harry if he would like anything to eat, and following his small reply, started piling sausages and bacon onto a plate before handing it over to Harry.

"Did you manage to get some rest, dear?" She asked him.

"Not really," he replied, "you?" He asked her, even though he already knew the answer, but preferred this feeble attempt at a conversation to the awkward silence.

Mrs Weasley shook her head in silence, and Mr Weasley replied, "I don't think many people managed much. Its going to take people a long time to recover, some, I don't think ever will," he looked over towards George sadly. "We are heading back to the Burrow later today Harry, will you be joining us? I will be nice to get back to somewhere familiar and comfortable; we haven't been back there since Easter."

"I would like that, if you're sure its not too much bother."

"Of course not mate! You're like family, and family is always welcome!" exclaimed Ron.

Harry smiled at Ron and thanked him. To be called part of the family made his spirits soar, and Harry stood up abruptly to the surprise of the rest of the table. "Ginny?" He asked, "Will you walk with me?"

Ginny's eyes narrowed menacingly, and she stood up and proceeded to stalk right out of the Great Hall. Harry felt his spirits deflate inside him at her attitude, and with a quick glance at Ron, whose eyes were following his sister, he quickly followed her out of the Hall.

She led him all the way out onto the grounds to the tree near the lake where Harry had seen the memory of his parents. Both Harry and Ginny were silent on the journey, and once she got to the tree, Ginny stopped and turned around to face Harry with her hands on her hips and anger in her eyes.

"Well?" She said.

The silence was deadly, Harry actually felt more scared than he had done when he thought he was about to die the night before.

"Ginny, I…" He faltered. Words were running through his head, but nothing seemed to be the right thing to say to her. "I'm sorry," he said, he knew it probably sounded stupid, but he was having difficulty finding words.

The next thing Harry felt was pain. Ginny was repeatedly punching, hitting and slapping any part of Harry she could, in a similar manner to Hermione's attack on Ron just a few months earlier.

"You are so stupid, why did you put us all through that? Did you not think we deserved to know your plan? You selfish, arrogant bastard!" For the first time since he had known her, Ginny was crying. The tears were rolling freely down her face, and Harry could think of nothing better to do than to try and put his arms around her. After a few moments struggle Ginny stopped fighting against him, and Harry hugged her even harder, he had forgotten how perfectly they seemed to fit together. Her head was nestled in his chest, which was now getting rather wet due to her sobbing in it.

"Shhh Ginny, shhh," Harry whispered softly into her ear, "it's over now, I'll tell you everything."

He pulled her down onto the ground, where she sat on his lap. Harry started stroking her hair, and while she cried, Harry told her everything; the hunt for the horcruxes, including the diary, the Deathly Hallows, Voldermort's past, and how it was connected to Harry's, everything he, Ron and Hermione had been up to that year, and his sacrifice the night before. When he told her of the resurrection stone and how he had seen his parents, Sirius and Remus, Ginny hugged him so hard, that he had to remind her to let him breathe.

When he had finished, she looked at him hard in the face, staring right into his eyes. Harry was transfixed, he couldn't look away. They stared into each others eyes for several minutes, and every bit of love Harry and Ginny had for each other was conveyed through those green and brown eyes during those few minutes. No words were needed; they came to a full understanding of each other, and it was at that moment that Harry knew he loved Ginny with all his heart.

"I never wanna loose you again," he told her, "you're going to be mine forever."

"Is that a promise?" she looked at him seriously, "I don't want you going on a wild goose chase across the country following any more murderous, immortality seeking wizards."

"It wasn't technically a wild goose chase."

"Shh," she cut him off, "promise me."

"Cross my heart," and the next thing he knew he was kissing her with such passion that not ever their kiss on his seventeenth birthday could match. Harry was in blissful heaven, one hand at the bottom of Ginny's back, the other getting tangled in her long red hair, the rest of the world just didn't matter at that moment, and for several more moments, and several more.

As much as they wanted that kiss to last forever, eventually they had to come up for air. Gasping for breath, they held each other close. "I love you," Harry told Ginny.

"I love you too."

"Erm, Gin? I hate to break this up, but I think we have an audience." They looked over towards the school entrance, where a small crowd had gathered, apparently watching Harry and Ginny's reunion.

"Let them watch," she said smirking, "if you remember, the first time you kissed me was in front of the whole of Gryffindor house."

"Mmm, yeah, I do remember, I remember perfectly, but the crowd in the Gryffindor tower didn't include your parents!"

"Oh!" And she broke away from him sharply.

"Shall we face them together? Or are you going to leave me to the slaughter?" Harry asked her.

"Together," she said smiling at him, and she took his hand in her own. "Ready?" She asked.

"No, but we'll do it anyway."

Hand in hand they slowly strode over to the small crowd of people. As they got closer, Harry realized that not only was Mr and Mrs Weasley there, but the rest of the Weasley family, Hermione, Neville, who had been released from the hospital wing, Luna and Kingsley.

"Hi," Harry said as they approached the group, and he and Ginny stopped several feet short of Mr and Mrs Weasley who were at the front. Their expressions were blank, as were all the Weasley men's. Hermione, Luna and Fleur were smiling however. 'Typical girls,' Harry couldn't help but think.

"Well, if you hadn't already guessed, Harry and I are back together, and he has promised not to run off and chase any evil wizards, not for a little while at least," Ginny explained to the waiting crowd.

"Oh! That's wonderful!" Exclaimed Mrs Weasley, and the pair were soon engulfed in one of her famous bone-crushing hugs.

"Yes, it's wonderful," Mr Weasley agreed, and as soon as Harry and Ginny were released from the hug, Mr Weasley took Harry's hand and shook it.

After Mr and Mrs Weasley were finished, the rest of the group began congratulating the couple, choruses of, "if you hurt my sister," were mixed in with, "well, its about time you two got back together," and many more handshakes and hugs.

Finally, it was Ron's turn, "you remember what I told you last year? It still stands, you mess with my sister, or ever break her heart again, you'll know about it."

"I promise, if I ever hurt her again, you can call on Gryffindor's sword and cut me down," Harry replied.

"You know I will remember that," Ron smiled, "congratulations mate. And, while we are on the topic of getting together, well," he walked over towards where Hermione was standing, "even I admit this should have happened ages ago, but me and 'Mione are finally together. We are aren't we?" He asked, looking at her uncertainly.

"Yes we are, finally," she replied, her brown eyes glowing as she took his hand in hers.

A shriek was heard from Mrs Weasley, and for the next few minutes, the same process that had just occurred with Ginny and Harry was repeating itself.

"Remember, Hermione is like my sister, I want you to remember that," Harry said to Ron who nodded. Harry turned to Hermione, "next time you decide to proclaim your love to Ron, please do not do it in the middle of a war."

"I'll try my very best."

"Now that's the Hermione I know."

"Well, is everyone ready to head back to the Burrow? If you all go and collect anything you want go and get it, and we will meet in the entrance hall," said Mr Weasley.

"How are we getting home?" Asked Ginny.

"We will be apparating, and you will go side-along with me, is that ok with everyone?"

A chorus of "yes's" was heard, and the group started to head back inside.

"George?" Harry called out, "can I?"

George nodded, "carry on," he told Charlie who had stopped to wait for him.

"George, I want to tell you I am sorry."

George, who had been staring at the ground looked up, "what are you talking about Harry?"

"It's my fault you lost Fred, the fight last night; it wasn't how it was supposed to happen."

"Shut up Harry, its not your fault, Fred chose to fight, it was all up to him. And anyway, he was fighting for what was right, for his family's freedom, and now we have that, he would be happy. I don't think I will ever get over the pain of loosing him, none of us will, but I know he wouldn't want you to blame yourself for anything, so please, don't." George spoke these words with such emotion, a side of George Harry had never seen before.

"Thank you," Harry told him.

"No Harry, thank you. You have opened the way for change in this world; let's make sure it's better than before, for Fred."

"Agreed." And the pair walked back into the castle to meet everyone else before heading back to the Burrow, for what was hopefully a lot of rest.


	2. Back to the Burrow

Disclaimer- Jo owns all the character, not me 

So here is chapter two, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter, liongirrl4eva and Xugra, it's nice to hear what I have written is appreciated.

Anyways, once again, on with the story.

**Chapter Two****- Back To The Burrow**

The sun was setting across the spring night's sky, and as darkness enclosed the garden of the Burrow, magically enchanted lanterns came to life. In the overgrown garden, gnomes were wondering around unkempt bushes, getting up to unknown mischief, and in the centre of the garden, two old and battered tables had been pushed together, and were groaning under the weight at the number of people sitting at them.

The groaning of the tables couldn't be heard though due to the amount of noise from the people sat at the tables. Although the chatter appeared cheery, a lingering sense of sombreness hung over them, like a cloak that they couldn't take off.

As usual, Mrs Weasley had outdone herself with the food; as soon as they had arrived back she set to work in the kitchen, refusing offers of help from everyone, including Harry who had volunteered Kreatcher to help. Everyone knew however that throwing herself into her cooking was what she needed to keep her mind of things. The others busied themselves tidying up the house, laying the tables in the garden and unpacking. Harry was staying in Ron's room as usual, and Hermione was to be in Ginny's. Percy, Bill and Fleur, who had decided to stay at the Burrow for a few nights, took their old rooms, and Charlie, who would not be returning to Romania for a while was to be with George. Fortunately, Hermione had managed to keep the small, beaded bag that contained everything they had taken safe, so at least they had a lot of their magical belongings.

Harry and Ron did have to ask Mr Weasley and Bill for help however in explaining the ghoul who had been pretending to be Ron all year that they needed the room back for a while. They managed to get the ghoul, who still had red hair and was dressed in Ron's old pyjamas, back into the attic, with the promise, that he could have his own room again, as soon as there was space for him, or it, they weren't really sure.

The topic of conversation that night wasn't about anything in particular. People jumped in and out of the light conversations about what would happen to the magical community in the coming months and years, remembering good times with those that had been lost over the past few years, and catching up with what had been happening at Hogwarts and within the Ministry the past year while Harry, Ron and Hermione had been separated from the community.

Earlier, the trio had managed to have a quick conversation, where they agreed that now was not the right time to tell everyone exactly what they had been up to the previous year, with the exception of Ginny of course. They announced that they would be telling everyone in due course, but asked them to refrain from questions for a little why, which everyone managed to agree on, if a little annoyed at being asked to wait.

Slowly, the tables started to empty as people trickled off to bed, until only Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were left. They had purposely stayed back so they could talk uninterrupted, and when Charlie bid them goodnight they were finally alone.

"So," Ron said looking at Harry.

"So," Harry replied.

"It's over mate! I can't believe we finished it, well, you finished it really, but it's only just sinking in."

"No, it is we, we all played our part, everyone did. I could never have done this alone, and I apologise to each of you, for thinking that I ever could and attempting to push each of you away."

"Does that mean you regret breaking up with me last year?" Ginny asked him.

"I always regretted that, but at the time, I thought it was the right thing to do. Perhaps it was, it meant I had something to fight for." Harry smiled at her.

"Hmm, is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Why? Is it working?" He asked her.

"Well, it's something I guess."

Ron and Hermione exchanged glances smirking. "I suppose now we will have to start thinking about our futures."

"Hermione!" Ron cried, "We've only just finished, can we not have a bit of our break before we start thinking about our futures? I'm pretty happy just thinking about the now thank you very much."

"I only meant that there was talk that we may be given the opportunity to go back to Hogwarts in September to take our 7th year, if we did, it wouldn't be compulsory, but there is the offer. We weren't the only ones to miss out, none of the muggle-borns were allowed to attend, and to be honest, from what I heard, the ones who did didn't really get round too much learning," was her response.

"Go back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded, "if we wanted to, yes. Anyone who wanted to retake whatever year they were in can either do that, or discuss with McGonagall about moving up to the next year if she felt they were good enough. There would also be a double intake of new first years, to include or the muggle-borns who weren't allowed to start last year."

"I think I would like that, going back to Hogwarts. It would be a chance to have a normal life for a year, with no threats of death lingering over us."

"Don't jinx us mate! Who know what else is out there, there is bound to be a few Death Eaters still floating about," came Ron's reply.

"Sorry, but I am going to assume there isn't, not until I see any proof anyway. I just don't want to think about it."

"Well, I guess I am up for going back, I gotta complete my Newts if I still wanna be an Auror one day."

"And whatever career I eventually plan on following, I need as many Newts as possible," was Hermione's response.

"Any ideas what you want to do yet?" Ginny asked her.

"I'm going to keep my options open at the moment; I want to see what sort of direction the Ministry goes in this year. What about you Ginny? Will you be willing to put up with us all next year?"

"I think I may ask McGonagall if I can go into my 7th year. I didn't miss any important exams, and I am willing to some extra work over the summer if I have to because, even if I do have to put up with you, it's almost certainly going to be better than last year," she said sticking her tongue out at them.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed, but he couldn't keep a straight face for long, and he led the others into a fit of laughter.

After a few minutes of non stop laughing, it slowly died away, but their grins lingered on their faces.

"Aww man, I can't believe I forgot!" Harry cried.

"Forgot what?" Hermione asked him.

"Teddy, little Teddy. I'm such a bad Godfather."

"Harry, you shouldn't feel bad, it's only been one day, and you can't be expected to have done everything in one day."

"I know, it's just, here I am, planning out my future, and he has just lost both of his parents. I don't know what is expected of me, am I suppose to look after him? I don't think I am quite ready to look after a little baby. I never really got a chance to think it through when Remus asked me, I always just thought I would be the cool Godfather who just visited and bought presents, like Sirius was when I was young, it never occurred to me that we could loose Remus and Tonks."

"Harry, don't worry, " Ginny said, "I don't think you will be expected to look after Teddy full time, he has his Grandmother, Andromeda, and she was looking after him a lot. You will have to talk to her, but since she lost Ted, and now Tonks, I think she would like the opportunity to raise her grandson herself, and the company. Thought I doubt she would mind if you were the 'cool' godfather, in fact, I think she would like the extra help. It means that you can get on with your schooling, and she can get to raise Teddy."

"You think?" Harry still looked worried.

"You will be fine. Perhaps you could try and meet Andromeda in the next few days to talk to her."

"I haven't even met him yet."

"You had other things to do, now that you have finished that, you can spend as much time as you like with him," said Hermione.

"Yeah, I guess you are right," Harry agreed nodding, and they all fell silent.

"Well, I guess we should all head in," said Ron, breaking the silence, looking towards the darkened house.

"Wait," Ginny's voice made them falter as they started to stand up, "I'm curious Harry, what were you doing earlier when we couldn't find you. You just said you had things to do."

Ron and Hermione sat back down straight away, eager to find out also. Harry rolled his eyes, but also sat back down.

Harry took a deep breath and told them, "I went to see Voldermort."

"You what?" Was Ron's response, but Hermione and Ginny shushed him.

"I went to see Voldermort, well, his body anyway. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I needed to make sure he really was gone, I couldn't stand thinking that he could some how managed to find a way to cheat death again, and he could come after us all still. So, I went to see him, and he's gone, he really is. It feels like such a weight has been lifted off of my chest, and now I can finally get on with my life. I now can finish school, get a job, laugh with my friends and not have to worry about who's trying to kill me next, and who knows, maybe one day I will even start a family of my own. Before, I never could have thought about it, but now, seeing him, lying there, most defiantly dead, I can. And I love this feeling. So much has been sacrificed already, now we can make the most of it!"

As he finished his speech he looked at his friends, each of whom were wearing their mixed emotions on their faces, all of them looked torn between feeling shocked and happiness.

Ginny was first to break the silence, "How did you ever manage to stay so strong? You have had to put up with so much all these years, no wonder you wanted some closure."

"Wow mate, that must have been well scary, but I'm glad you feel like you can get on with your life now, we all can, but what was that bit about starting a family? Who do you plan on starting a family with?"

"Shut up Ron!" Exclaimed Hermione, "That's great Harry, I am sure everything will be great in the future."

"Yeah, but still, family?"

"Don't worry Ron; I don't foresee starting a family for a few years yet. I've got my whole life to live, and I plan to make the best of this. But know this, when I am ready to have my own family, I will make sure it's with the best girl in the world," he looked over towards Ginny, who smiled and blushed in response.

"Because Harry deserves the best," she replied.

"I'm not sure I deserve the best, but I do have the best," he leant over and kissed her on the lips, while Ron looked away and Hermione just smiled at the pair.

They broke apart and Ginny yawned widely, "sorry Harry! Don't worry, its not your kissing that's making me sleepy, I'm just tired."

"That's ok, it's been a long few days, and we should all try and get some proper rest. Can I walk you to your room?" He asked her, offering her his arm.

"Of course you can, "Ginny was smiling widely.

"Oi you two, keep it clean!" Ron called after them as they started walking towards the house, leaving Ron and Hermione alone in the garden. Both of them rolled their eyes and carried on walking.

They walked in silence to the door of Ginny's room, and when they reached the closed door, Harry turned to face Ginny, and took both of her hands in his. "So, have I been the perfect gentleman in walking you back to your room?"

"Well, I'm not sure about the 'perfect,' but a gentleman, I guess," she giggled. Harry thought it was the best sound he had ever heard.

"I'm offended," he replied.

"You know I'm only joking. I still can't believe I have you back. All this year I never thought I would see you again, and now you are here. I just want to hold you forever, I'm scared that, if you leave me, even for just a moment," and once again she was looking at him with her big brown eyes.

"Gin, I'm never going to leave you again, but your brothers would kill me if I didn't return to Ron's room tonight, and if they decided to kill me tonight, then you defiantly wouldn't get to see me again." He had tried to keep it light hearted, but she didn't smile. "Oh, Gin, I'm stupid, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, its ok, he would have thought it was funny anyway, and he would probably have been leading the pack to get you. I can't believe I won't seem his smiling face again, no more practical jokes, and I can't even begin to think what George is going through."

"He's tough, George. It will take time, but he will pull through, he just needs everyone there for him."

Ginny nodded, and yawned again.

"Now, you are going to go into your room and sleep and have sweet dreams," Harry told her.

"Am I really?"

"Yes, now go. I promise I will be here in the morning." He kissed her softly and she turned around and opened the door to her room.

"Night," she said.

"Night," Harry replied, and he watched as she shut the door behind her.

Harry stood outside the door for several moments, before realising he should get to bed also. As he climbed the stairs to Ron's attic room, he was very aware of how heavy his legs felt, and it occurred to him that he hadn't slept in what felt like a year.

He reached Ron's room and sat on his bed. He slowly pulled off his clothes and pulled his night clothes one, and while he was doing so, he debated on whether to wait up for Ron or not. As far as he knew Ron and Hermione were still outside, expressing their love to each other or something like that, but he never even managed to think of anything sarcastic to say to Ron when he returned half an hour later, as he had fallen asleep as soon as his head had touched his pillow, his glasses still on his face. For the first time in a long time, his dreams were not filled with glimpses of whatever Voldermort was up to, but instead they were filled with love, and even as he slept, there was a smile on his face.


	3. News of the World

Disclaimer- I wish these characters were mine. They aren't though, they belong to Jo Rowling.

Hey guys, here is the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter Three****- News of the World**

Harry did not wake the next day till late morning. Looking over to Ron's bed he saw that it was empty, which surprised him. Ron never got up earlier than Harry if he could help it. Harry could only think that either Ron had never made it back to his room last night, even though the bed looked as though it had been slept in, didn't mean it hadn't a constant annoyance to Mrs Weasley. A pile of clothes on the floor however told Harry otherwise, as Harry recognised them as the clothes Ron had been wearing the previous day. The only other explanation Harry could think of was that it had something to do with Hermione, and even as he thought this he spotted the book, "12 Fail-safe ways to Charm a Witch" open on Ron's bedside table.

Smirking to himself, Harry rolled out of bed slowly and shuffled over towards the bedside table, his hair was sticking out more than usual, he found as he ran his hand through it. Not even bothering to attempt to smooth his hair down, Harry picked up the book and looked at the opened page.

"_Chapter Eight- Making the perfect meal_

_One of the ways to secure the greatest positive result from you witch, is the surprise of a well cooked meal. Whether it is breakfast in bed, or a romantic meal for two, she will surely be impressed at the effort that a good wizard has made. _

_How much you want to impress your witch however depends on whether you cook the meal with magic or not. If you are really trying to impress, a well cooked meal, made the muggle way- specifically, without magic, will impress most witches more than if made with magic. This is something that must be considered with the feelings of the witch in mind towards muggles, and also whether or not you have all the necessary equipment._

_If you are going to cook the muggle way, you should make sure that you do everything the muggle way, including all the collection of ingredients, and the tidying up afterwards._

_To make the perfect breakfast, you should first consider what your witch would like. Does she want a full cooked breakfast, or does she just like a bowl of cereal? Also consider what she would like to drink._

_Before you start you need to make sure you have all the ingredients required, a tray to put the food on, cutlery and glasses for the drinks, and preferably a small vase with a freshly picked flower- preferably the witch's favourite."_

Harry didn't need to read any more, he had figured out what Ron was planning to do, or had already done, he didn't know. Harry couldn't wait to find out how it had gone, knowing how Ron was with cooking, unless Hermione wanted cereal, he can't imagine it would have gone well, and even with cereal, something would go wrong. Chuckling to himself, Harry pulled some clothes on eagerly. When he reached the door however he paused. If it had of worked, and it made Hermione happy, would Ginny expect the same thing from him? At least he knew he could cook a breakfast, so many years of cooking for the Dursley's would perhaps come in handy.

Harry entered a full kitchen, but saw that neither Ron nor Hermione were present in the large group of people squashed around the small kitchen table.

"Ah Harry, good morning, would you like something to eat?" Mrs Weasley asked him.

"Yes please," he replied, and Mrs Weasley started preparing some toast for him.

Harry looked at the table to see where the easiest to sit was, but there were no gaps. Seeing Harry looking towards them, Bill and Fleur, who had finished eating stood up and offered him their seat.

"Thanks," Harry told them, taking their vacated spot.

"Zat is no problem 'Arry, we 'ave things we should do anyway," and Fleur and Bill thanked Mrs Weasley and left the kitchen.

Harry now found himself sitting next to Mr Weasley, who was deeply engrossed in The Daily Prophet. Harry could see the headline, 'We Are Free at Last!' above a picture of Kingsley Shacklebolt, and further down he read, 'Final Death Toll- 54 Fighting for our Freedom, 42 Fighting for You Know Who."

Reading this, Harry thought it was extremely unfair that they had lost more people fighting for the good of the Wizarding Community, than those who were fighting for oppression and control. Harry was bought out of his thoughts however, by Mrs Weasley, who had placed a plate of toast, bacon, sausage and eggs in front of him, along with a glass of pumpkin juice.

Digging in, Harry saw that now Bill and Fleur had vacated the small table, the only ones left were Mr and Mrs Weasley, Charlie, Percy and George, the latter three were still tucking into the large mounds of food that piled the plates in front of each of them.

"Mrs Weasley?" Harry said.

"Yes dear?" she replied.

"Where are Ron, Hermione and Ginny? Have you seen them today?"

"Ron and Hermione went out this morning, I think they went for a walk into the muggle village, and Ginny is still in bed. It's about time she got up really; maybe I should go and wake her."

"I'll do it!" Harry said eagerly, "after I finish my breakfast I will go and get her."

"Are you sure, Harry dear? Don't feel like you have to rush through your food."

"No, it's no trouble at all," and Harry started shovelling food into his mouth as fast as he could.

Within a few minutes he was done and he thanked Mrs Weasley for the food as he scrambled out from the table and clambered up the stairs to outside of Ginny's room. He couldn't wait to see Ginny's face when he woke her up. He knew she would be glad to know that he was still there, and he wanted to show her that, even though they were separated at night, he would still be there for her every morning when she woke up.

Softly, he knocked on the door; there was no response, so he quietly opened the door to the small room. It was almost exactly the same as it had been the year before, with the desk by the window and a Holyhead Harpies poster on the wall. The only difference was the small camp bed that was set up on the floor for Hermione. With the camp bed on the floor, there was very little floor space to manoeuvre, but Harry managed to silently creep over to Ginny's bed, where she was curled up under the covers, still fast asleep.

For several minutes he stood watching her, he just couldn't get over how beautiful she really was. Her long, dark red hair trailed across her pillow, with a few stray curls creeping around the corner of her pale face. Her breathing was soft and every now and again her nose crinkled up for a few seconds.

Pulling himself out of his trance- like state, Harry knelt down at the side of the bed and lent over Ginny and blew softly into her ear. This obviously tickled Ginny, and still asleep, she rubbed her ear against her shoulder, before settling back on her pillow again. Harry blew on her ear again, this time a little harder, and this time Ginny's arm rose and she rubbed her ear with her hand, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"Harry?" She asked softly.

"Morning or good afternoon should I say," Harry replied.

"Afternoon? I feel like I only just went to bed," she rolled over in the bed to face Harry.

"Did you have sweet dreams?"

"Mmm, I did," and she propped herself up on her elbow, making her and Harry's eyes level, "I gotta say, that's the nicest way anyone has ever woke me up. Usually someone just comes in here yelling and opening the curtains, this is much nicer. I could get used to this," she added.

"Yeah, well don't get too used to it just yet, I can't guarantee I won't come in here and wake you up by chucking water all over you."

"Hey! You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?" He dared.

"I'd like to see you try, and then get away without me hexing you too oblivion."

"Well, if the punishment is a bat-bogey hex, maybe I won't be doing that anytime soon," he said thoughtfully, "if the punishment was a big kiss from my girlfriend however…"

"In your dreams Potter!" She playfully punched him.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm where she had hit him, "anyway, that already is in my dreams."

Ginny's retort to their banter was cut short by Mrs Weasleys voice shouting up the stairs, "GINNY, ARE YOU UP YET?"

"YES MUM!" She replied rolling her eyes to Harry.

"WELL HURRY UP AND GET DOWN HERE FOR YOUR FOOD! AND YOU HARRY, KINGSLEY IS COMING OVER TO SEE US IN 15 MINUTES."

"Kingsley's coming over?" Harry asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders at him.

"Why don't you go and find out, while I get dressed," Ginny told him.

"Well, I'd much rather stay here, but I 'spose I can go and find out," he got up slowly and started to drag himself out of the room, his feet dragging along the carpet, Ginny giggling behind him.

"Hurry up Harry," and he soon found himself bombarded with pillows, from the direction of the bed.

"OK, OK! I'm gone! And before he shut the door to Ginny's room, he blew her a quick kiss, which she caught smiling.

Harry re-entered the kitchen and saw that Ron and Hermione had returned from where ever they had disappeared to, and also saw that the rest of the Weasley's were crammed into the small kitchen.

"Ah Harry, is Ginny on her way down?" Mrs Weasley asked from over by the sink, where she was pointing her wand at a cloth, which was scrubbing a frying pan.

"Yes, she will be down in a minute," Harry replied, and as he did so, he caught Ron's eye, and saw that his eyebrow had risen.

"Ah good, I had better get her some food on then," and she busied herself with the oven.

Ignoring Ron, who obviously wanted to ask why Harry had been upstairs with Ginny, Harry turned to Mr Weasley and his other sons and asked, "Kingsley is coming? How come?"

"Honestly, I don't really know, he just sent a message saying he would like to visit, he should be here soon." Mr Weasley replied.

Almost as soon as he had said it, there was a knock on the open back door, and Kingsley was standing there, "good afternoon," he said smoothly.

"Good afternoon to you Minister," Mr Weasley responded, standing up to shake his hand.

"Please, call me Kingsley, I may be Minister for Magic now, but we are still friends first, after everything that we have been through together. And that goes for the rest of you as well," he added, looking around at the group that were crammed into the kitchen. "Why don't we move outside for this? I have quite a few things that I would like to say to you all, and it's rather crowded in here."

"Yes, yes of course," said Mr Weasley, "come on, everyone outside. The benches from last night are still out, we can reuse them."

Ginny appeared at the door to the kitchen, slightly breathless and her hair was dishevelled, she had obviously rushed as not to miss anything, as the group started to file outside, led by Kingsley. "What did I miss?" She asked.

"Not much," Mrs Weasley told her while passing her a heaped plate of food, "he is going to update us on what has been going on within the Ministry. Now take your food and join the others outside," and she followed Harry out the door carrying her plate to the spaces beside Ron and Hermione at the table.

As they sat down, Harry whispered to Ron, who was sitting next to him, "You have a nice breakfast?"

Ron went bright red, "what do you mean?"

"You left the book on the bedside table, and I used my super-smart brain to figure it out."

"Oh, well, it went alright actually! Oh, I'll tell you later," as he was shushed by Mrs Weasley, Kingsley was about to start.

"Well, firstly, I would like to congratulate you all. With our combined effort, we have managed to overcome the oppression that has been unwillingly forced upon up for the last half- century. We haven't come out of this battle scar-free, physically, or mentally, but, hopefully now we can look towards a brighter future. And for that brighter future, I need the help of every witch and wizard in Britain to help re- build." Kingsley's speech had captured his audience at his first words, and they all stared, transfixed on what he was saying.

"Anyway, one of the first steps I have taken within the Ministry is to find out who was working for us, and who for Voldermort. Anyone who was willingly working for Voldermort, or knowingly providing information to Death Eaters has been sent straight to Azkaban. The Dementors have, of course, been removed. Those people who were unknowingly forced to do Voldermort's work, those under the imperius curse for example, and those who were blackmailed, are been taken on a case by case review, and we shall be sorting that out in the coming months."

"What's happening to the Dementors? You say you have removed them, but can you limit their growth and keep them contained?" Asked Mr Weasley.

"Well, we are still working on rounding them all up, some have evaded our capture, but we have Ministry workers attempting to find them even as we speak. They will all be held within a magical jail, and the Ministry will never be using them again. Any other questions so far?" He asked.

Everyone shook their heads, which prompted Kingsley to continue. "Within the Ministry, Gawain Robards remains the head of the Auror office, and he and his team are working hard to track down and capture any Death Eaters that were not caught at the Battle of Hogwarts. As I said before, all of the ones who have already been caught are in Azkaban awaiting trial. Coming onto the subject of trials, we, the Ministry, may require some of you to give evidence from what you witnessed."

"When will the trials start? Would we have to take time off school for them?" Harry asked.

"Possibly. We will be starting them as soon as we can organise a full Wizengamont, it shouldn't take too long. Unfortunately, there are such a large number of people that need to go on trial, at this point, I can't even begin to guess at how long it could take though. We have a lot of people willing to give evidence though, so, with everyone's cooperation, we will get it over as quick as we possibly can." He paused. "Any more questions?"

"What about Hogwarts? Will we be given the chance to go back and re-take the year? Also, what about the damage to the school, will they manage to fix it?" Asked Hermione.

"As many people as we can spare are working on it. They're finding it easier than we expected to re-build thought. It seems the castle wants to be fixed. Many of the enchantments on the castle are ancient, so we don't really understand all of them, but we are just working with it as best we can. As far as going back to finish your schooling, as you have probably already heard, all students are being given the opportunity to go back if they want to. The teachers are going to have their work cut out for them this year getting everyone up to scratch, but I place my highest faith in all the staff that they will do brilliantly. Of course, once again, a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher needs to be found, along with a Transfiguration teacher and a Muggle Studies teacher, but I am sure we will manage to find them."

"You can tell them that the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is no longer jinxed. Voldermort jinxed the position when Dumbledore refused him the post. Now he is gone, it will have been broken," Harry informed Kingsley, who raised his eyebrows at this information.

"Well that's interesting, I will be sure to inform the appropriate people of that piece of news. Well, does anyone have any more questions? I wish I could stay longer, but there is a lot to get sorted at the Ministry. I do need to tell you though, one week today, there will be a memorial service for all of the people that we lost, not only during the Battle of Hogwarts, but in the fight against Voldermort. If anyone would like to say any words during the service, then please let me know. It will be held at Hogwarts, and we are expecting a huge turnout, and as you all were greatly involved, I am sure a lot of people would like to thank you and show their gratitude, especially for your loss."

Mrs Weasley was crying again. Kingsley smiled sympathetically at her and stood up to leave. "Thanks again for you time, I shall see you soon."

"Thank you Kingsley," chorused around the table.

Kingsley started walking away from the table to apparate back to the Ministry when Harry stood up and called out his name. Ignoring the questioning looks from around the table, Harry rushed over to where Kingsley stopped and turned at the sound of his name.

"Harry? Everything ok?"

"Yeah, things are great, I just wondered if I could have a quick chat?"

"Of course, what's on your mind?"

"It's Snape."

"Snape? What about him?" Kingsley looked puzzled.

"I have evidence that he was working for Dumbledore all along. I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner, but I haven't really had a chance."

"What's the evidence? Everything always seemed to point towards him supporting Voldermort."

"He did, originally, but he switched sides before my parents were killed. It's quite complicated, but he and Dumbledore had a plan the whole time. Snape was supposed to kill Dumbledore, because Dumbledore was already dying. I have everything you need to see here," and he held out the small vial that contained Snape's memories, "I think you should watch this."

Kingsley took the vial from him and looked at it closely. "Are you sure they were not tampered with?"

"Positive, Snape gave them to me personally after Nagini bit him. I have seen a tampered memory before, and this isn't." He paused, "It's going to take people a while to accept what Snape did, me included, but people deserve to know what he did to aid in Voldermort's demise, including his sacrifice, he should at least deserve that."

Kingsley nodded, "OK, I will take your word for that. I will take this back and have a look, is that ok?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, for everything Harry. Now, I must head off, but I will keep in touch about this," he waved the vial, turned and walked away. As he reached the boundaries, he turned and disappeared into thin air.

Harry stared at the spot where Kingsley had stood for several second, and then headed back over to the table where everyone was still seated. They had evidently been watching Harry closely, as all eyes were on him as he returned to his seat at the table.

Answering their silent questions, he told them, "I was talking to Kingsley about Snape."

"Professor Snape?" Mr Weasley asked.

"Yes, I received evidence that Snape had been working for Dumbledore all along," and he proceeded to repeat what he had just told Kingsley.

Confused faces were his response at the end of his explanation, "Snape? Good? Are you sure?" Bill asked him.

"It's true, even though it's hard to believe. That git was working with us all along." Ron told him.

"My ear! He cut my ear off!" George cried, "How can he be good?"

"That was an accident; he was aiming for a Death Eaters hand behind you. Unfortunately he missed," Harry told him.

George didn't look convinced, but didn't say anything else.

"Any more bombshells you want to drop on us Harry?" Charlie asked him.

Harry exchanged a quick glance with Ron and Hermione and softly shook his head. "I'm sorry, not yet, but I promise, we will fill you in on everything soon."

"OK, but we will hold you to that promise."

"I know."

Mr Weasley stood up from the table, "I think I am going to head into work. I want to keep up with what is going on. I promise I won't be long," he said looking at Mrs Weasley.

"I'll join you dad," said Bill.

"Yeah, me too, I feel like I could do more to help there than here. I just hope my resignation doesn't still stand," Percy added.

"You mind if I tag along?" Charlie asked them.

"Not at all," Mr Weasley told him, before hugging Mrs Weasley goodbye, "we will be back soon," he told her, and the four men headed off to the boundaries to apparate out.

"I am sure there is cleaning I could be getting on with, we really did leave this house in a state," Mrs Weasley hurried off towards the house.

"I'm going to see if she wants any help," said Fleur, and she followed her into the house, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and George sitting at the table.

"You mind if I stick with you guys for a while? I don't fancy being alone," George asked them.

"Stupid! You don't need to ask," Ginny told him, and she got up, went and sat next to him and hugged him.

"Thanks Gin," he smiled at her.

Harry was looking at Ron expectantly. Ron noticed and turned bright red again. Harry couldn't wait to find out what had happened that morning at breakfast.

"So," Harry asked him.

Ron looked at Hermione who giggled, "Well, breakfast didn't go so well, I'm not a very good cook." He looked embarrassed.

"Ron tried to cook breakfast! Ha!" George interjected.

"Yes he did, and he's really not a good cook," Hermione added. "He sent me a paper charm inviting me down to breakfast, as I couldn't have it in Ginny's room, she was still asleep. When I made it into the kitchen, it looked like there had been an explosion."

Ron hung his head, "it was a disaster, nothing went right, and I burnt everything!"

"Yes he did, but he made up for it!" Hermione said smiling.

"I took her into the muggle village. There is a little tea shop there that does great breakfasts."

"It was lovely! No one has ever done anything so nice for me before. It was really romantic."

Ron blushed even harder, "I have promised her that I will learn how to cook her a proper breakfast eventually."

"But hopefully he will have lots of time to perfect it," she said looking at him with a happy look on her face.

Ron responded by giving her a kiss on the lips.

"Ewww! Gross!" George was laughing at them.

"Grow up!" Ginny told him.

"Never!" And he leapt out of the bench, picked Ginny up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Let me down!" She cried, but he was running around the garden, oblivious to her punches on his back. Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up and joined the pair who had ended up lying on their backs on the long grass.

The five of them lay there for most of the afternoon, chatting, laughing and remembering until Mrs Weasley called them in for food. After everything they had gone through, it was nice to properly relax, unfortunately, all of them knew, there were still many more tough days to go until everything would be perfect.


End file.
